This week Colorado Democrats, emboldened by taking the Colorado state Senate last fall, are taking advantage of winning an election by pushing through as many radical bills as possible. On Wednesday, the House Health Committee held a hearing on House Bill 1032, which would require schools providing sex education to teach “comprehensive sex education” as defined by the radical Left. They want schools to teach students about unsafe sexual practices, rejecting the overwhelming social science that demonstrates that sex in the context of marriage offers the best advantage for the health and wellbeing of individuals and children.

The bill threatens this sexual risk avoidance (SRA) education model by potentially associating it with religious dogma, and/or by disqualifying religious entities that provide SRA-based education. It also would ensure sex ed promotes information regarding so-called “emergency” contraceptives that can act as abortifacients. House Bill 1032 would also remove local control over curriculum requirements and require parents to opt out of (rather than opt-in) for sex ed for their children despite the controversial ideology it promotes.

In fact, the bill expressly requires an inclusive” curriculum that normalizes sexual orientation and gender identity and requires that federal funding for education be overseen in Colorado by an advisory board comprised almost entirely of minorities that “have been or might be discriminated against,” including LGBT advocates. Colorado does currently receive federal funds for sexual risk avoidance education under the Title V state block grant program, which teaches students to avoid risky behavior when it comes to sex.

Risk avoidance, not risk reduction, is the type of public health model used to address other risky behaviors such as underage drinking or drugs. But for the proponents in Colorado of this sex ed bill, teaching sexual risk avoidance, abstinence education, or delaying sexual behavior is not acceptable. In fact, what it does is place political correctness over and above the health of kids by encouraging them to make risky choices rather than positive ones when it comes to sexual behavior.

Parents are having none of this. Hundreds packed into the hearing, which lasted 10 hours as citizens testified against the bill. Legislators got an earful, and one seemingly-exasperated legislator asked a priest testifying against the bill how he got his expertise on sex. “I hear confessions,” the good-natured priest replied.